The Gryphon Cafe
by wagonwheel67
Summary: In This Story, Byakuya and Rukia own a cafe. Everything has always went well for them, but lately, as revealed by Byakuya, their business has hit a rough patch, and are counting on performers to bring their cafe back to life. Who can they put their trust in? A certain red head notices their plea for help, what will happen? Rated M for later chapters, IchiRuki.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, just figured I'd take a break from my other story to work on this one. This story just seems easier and less complicated to develop. I'll get back to work on it soon, but its good to take breaks, you know? So I'll get started on this one for a while. In this story, Byakuya and Rukia own a café that they have been living and working in for their whole lives. Imagine a nice and breezy Spring Saturday afternoon, and here, we meet the Kuchikis. Let the journey begin!**

**Chapter 1: Complications**

"Rukia, I need you to take care of these orders for me, I will be back in a bit."

"Yes, brother!" The raven-haired girl walked up to the register and took an elderly woman's order. She was working at her brother's coffee chop, the Gryphon Café in Karakura town. It was small, but homey, and Byakuya had a nice living quarters built upstairs. When you work at a coffee shop, your world becomes smaller, the customers are usually native to the town around you, you rarely get to experience travel, and pay is cheap, but she didn't dare say that in front of her brother. Sure, it may be small to her, but frankly, she didn't care in the least, for this is where she grew up; the wooden floor, the stage for acts in the corner, the round tables, and dimly lit environment would always have a place in her heart as her home. She didn't prefer anything else.

She printed out the receipt and gave it to the lady and showed her to an empty seat. The woman thanked her and slowly headed for the table. Rukia then put her elbows on the bar and put her head on her hands and sighed. Glancing over to the stage she smiled at the sight, the raised platform, grand piano, microphone and two small Marshall amps have been there for as long as she could remember. Byakuya liked the sound of Marshall amps the best, so he got two for the stage so performers wouldn't have to worry about bringing their own.

_Of course, no one has played here on over a year and a half…_

She sighed once more, remembering how she loved hearing the performers play on the stage during the day, she remembered singing along and dancing in her younger years too. She knew all the classics and now was musically adept at identifying songs from the 60's and 70's and some 80's. She loved the bands The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, The White Stripes, and the Foo Fighters, but her all-time favorite band is Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks being her personal Idol. She played piano herself and was pretty good at it. She hadn't played it in a while due to schoolwork and such.

"Rukia you have to get back on that instrument…" she said dreamily to herself and then started cleaning the register and bar.

After about a half hour later, Byakuya came back. "Oh, welcome back brother! Where'd you go?"

After closing the café door behind him, he turned the open sign around so the "Closed" side was showing. Her eyes widened and caught a lump in her throat.

"Brother we don't close for another 6 hours, is everything alright?"

"Rukia, follow me."

She knew something was wrong when he said that because he looked straight at her as he said that. She gulped and followed him upstairs.

As they arrived to their living area, they sat down and Byakuya took out the papers from his suitcase and placed them on the table in front of him. "Rukia."

Rukia looked up at him. "Yes brother? Is everything alright?" He shut his eyes and slowly shook his head. "As you are an adult now, you should hear this. Our café has recently been running through a deficit and we've been losing more money than we're making." He got up and walked towards the window and looked outside at the traffic and pedestrians walking by. His eyebrows furrowed a bit but then coughed and looked back at Rukia.

"In other words, our café is in trouble and if we don't find a way to make ends meet soon, we could be out of our business."

Rukia couldn't believe her ears and despair was engulfing her. "w-what can we do, brother?"

"Well, what we can try is se who is performing around town, performers more often than not draw customers, and therefore bring us more business."

Rukia understood what he was saying. _So all we have to do is see who can perform and we will be saved!_

Rukia began to gain hope and a smile grew on her face and balled her fists. She stood up and brushed herself off. Byakuya raised his eyebrow and watched her with his arms behind his back.

"Well then all we need to do is get someone to perform! How hard can that be?"

Rukia thought she saw the slightest hint of a smirk on her brother's face as he turned around and looked out the window once more.

"Then I will leave it up to you, Rukia" and with that, he returned to his room, but caught himself. "Ah, and could you reopen the store?"

Rukia still frozen in shock from what he asked her, hook her head and started going downstairs without answering him. _Me? I don't know many people outside the music club at school, who can I possibly get to perform here that's half-decent?_

Heading back down, she turned the "Closed" sign to "Open" and then headed back to her post. She began to look at her address book and found some numbers that belonged to her friends that all played an instrument. It being a Saturday, she expected most of them to pick up their phone.

As she ran across the name "Abarai, Renji" The first name in her address book, she dialed and waited for his reply.

"_Hello?"_

"Hey Renji, its Rukia! How are you?"

"_Fine, just doin Ukitake's homework, you?"_

"I'm just working right now, how are you getting his homework?"

"_Ahhh~, I've always been lousy at history, the past doesn't really matter to me, ya know?"_

"Yeah, I hear what you're saying, say can I ask a favor of you?"

"_Sure, anything for you, Rukia."_

Rukia smiled apologetically to herself. She knew Renji always had a crush on her, but she couldn't really say the same for him back. Ever since she met him her freshman year, she knew he felt something towards her.

"Well, how are your sax skills holding up? Wanna perform here next weekend?"

"_eeehhhhh, I'm actually going camping with the guys next weekend, but anytime after that!"_

"I see….thanks anyway, Renji."

"_Yeah, I'm sorry Rukia, I'll start practicing soon though, see you at school on Monday!"_

"Ok, take care."

"_Bye"_

_-Click-_

Rukia sighed to herself. _Well, at least he said he would be available the week after_, she thought to herself. Renji is probably the best sax player at her school. Not quite a professional, but he plays 1st Saxophone in their competition Jazz band. Rukia, herself plays Piano in the same Jazz Band, led under their director, Rojuro Otoribashi, but we call him "Rose" because of his personality. When she first joined, she thought he was a girl because of his long, curly and flowing blonde hair. He is a talented musician though, he can play over 17 different instruments with ease and is a master of music theory, so that helps us when we are trying to write a solo for the songs we play at competitions.

She decided to call a few other of her friends, since no one was coming in. She called her friend, Nanao, a trumpet player, who couldn't because she had a lot of homework to do, Ikkaku, an expert trombonist said he doesn't know any solo pieces so he wouldn't come, and then her friend Rangiku said she couldn't come because her Alto Sax was in need of repair from her dropping it.

Sighing heavily, Rukia decided not to call anyone else, fearing that she would just get similar answers. Not letting it get the best of her, however, she decided to call the newspaper and put an ad in. She found the number and dialed it.

"_rii~iing, riii~iing, -click- hello, Karakura Daily, Urahara speaking how may I be of service?"_

"Yes hi, my name's Rukia Kuchiki and I'm from the Gryphon Café," She said as sweetly as she could muster through her disappointment, _"Ah yes, the little café on Broad, what can I do for you today?"_ she flinched at his words.

"y-yes, I'd like to put an ad in tomorrow's paper that says 'Looking for performers'"

"_ahh, ok. Since Byakuya has done me many favors in the past, This one will be on the house!"_

Rukia was glad to hear that! The less money spent, the more money saved. And that saying means much more to her now that she's learned of the situation that her beloved café is in. "Sounds great! Have a good day, Mr. Urahara!"

"_You too, miss Kuchiki, later!"_

_-click-_

Pumping her fist, she knew she had done something that would make Byakuya proud. All she had to do now was wait for performers to either call or walk in and hopefully, things will go back to the way they once were. At that moment, a customer walked in and looked expectantly around him. Rukia greeted him joyfully:

"Welcome to the Gryphon Café!"

**~The Next Day~**

A newspaper dispenser stood alone on the corner of the street, when suddenly a hand reached out and dropped a quarter into the machine, noiselessly dispensing a newspaper. The Hands, connecting to a lean, but toned body, walked over to a bench and sat down. The mystery person took a sip of his coffee as he flipped through the pages until something caught his eye: _"Performers welcome, Gryphon Café on Broad Street, walk-ins welcome!" _Taking a sip from his coffee, he smirked to himself, brushed his carrot-orange hair back, grabbed his guitar case and begun walking back the direction he came. _Lucky me! I just moved here and already some opportunities arise!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Glad you followed and faved, it really made my day **** Of course I love reviews as well so if you want to, please be my guest! In this chapter, the red-head appears! What will happen? Let's begin….**

**~Wednesday, March 21****st**

_Man, the weather's lousy today, I hate it._

The annoyed Rukia walked into the bar, closing her umbrella and placing it by the stairs. While she was taking off her wet jacket, Byakuya noticed her return and turned away from the two women who were flirting with him. As he left, they pouted noticeably. "Welcome back, Rukia, did you have a productive day at school?"

"Yes brother, I brought back my math exam." She reached into her yellow backpack that had a lavender-colored Chappy printed on the back and pulled out her exam and handed it to her brother with a triumphant grin. Taking the exam, he flipped through it and when he got to the final page, he noticed the grade and smiled slightly.

"98, that's good work Rukia, keep it up, a Kuchiki always receives good marks. For your hard work, I'll give you a treat." He said stoically and walked back to the coffeemaker and began brewing Rukia's favorite kind if coffee, a cappuccino. Rukia's eyes widened and hopped over to the bar joyfully. She then noticed the two women glaring at her and was taken aback. _Great, two more of my brother's admirers?_ She thought to herself.

Byakuya finished the brew and handed her the mug. "Congratulations, Rukia, this one's for the hard work." She took it happily and sat down at the nearest table. She had no homework besides the Bio exam coming up next week and she new the material pretty well. _I think I'll just relax for the rest of the day_. Just then, her brother interrupted her thoughts:

"Rukia, don't think you're getting off that easy; you're helping me if things get too out of hand, understood?"

_Or not…_

"Yes, I understand brother, just at least let me finish my cappuccino." At her response, he nodded slightly and returned to cleaning mugs. Rukia sighed and sat there clicking the heels of her sneakers together and rested her head on her hands on the table.

**~8:10 PM~**

"Rukia, I'm going to go to sleep, can you take care of this place until it closes?"

"Of course, brother you can count on me!" She said confidently while pounding her first into her chest lightly and took over the register. She kept in mind that there was no set time when the Café closes; just when the customers stopped coming in and that was usually around 9 to 10 PM.

"Good, wake me if there is any trouble. Good night."

Rukia watched him close the door and heard his footsteps climb each step until she heard nothing. Getting up from the table, she looked around the store and noticed a few people still there drinking coffee and a college student working on homework. The stage, however, was still vacant. She frowned at the sight of the café and how desolate it was. Sure it was a small café, but it had quite a lot of business a long time ago. She remembered how she would sing and dance along to the performers' songs while Byakuya could actually smile. She hasn't seen his smile in such a long time.

'_I want to see him smile again…I hope someone comes soon…'_

**~8:34 PM~**

The college student packed up his things and started to leave. Rukia looked up from her textbook and bowed slightly, "thanks for your business!". The boy just looked at her and tipped his baseball cap and walked out. Watching him leave, she checked the time and noticed that no one else was there and decided to close shop early since she was tired. She turned her back and started putting all the supplies in the special compartment in the office behind the bar.

Just as she was about to go to the 'closed' sign, suddenly the door opened and saw a bright-orange haired boy around her age walk in the door. She was blown away by the color that she reeled backwards. Getting a better look, she noticed that he was wearing a shirt that said 'Nice Vibe' on it and blue jeans. She watched incredulously as he looked around the shop. He didn't seem to notice her. Walking towards a table he noticed her and turned to face her.

"You guys still open?"

His honey-brown eyes settled on hers, making her catch her breath. His facial features were defined as well as his upper body. He was toned, but not really athletic-looking. The most noticeable feature was his hair. His hair was spiky and was an orange color that showed off his eyes. Turning a light shade of pink she turned around. "Y-yes we are, how may I help you?" '_jeez, what a looker…'_. The stranger chuckled deep in his throat and looked around some more.

He started humming a tune as he studied the various paintings the café had on its wall and eventually came across the stage. She watched him but then jumped up in surprise as she watched him smack himself in the forehead. Turning to her, her heart sped up and looked him in the eyes, _Those beautiful Brown eyes…_

"You guys said you were looking for a performer?"

Catching herself staring, she noticed the guitar case on his back, "yes, actually we are, you have any experience?" Taking another glance at him, he didn't look very skilled. He looked confident, but he didn't seem to have the air of a professional, _But what can we expect? We can't just expect Lindsey Buckingham to just strut in here, can we? It would be nice though…_

Sauntering over to the cash register he leaned his elbow on the counter and shifted his eyes over to the menu, which was in chalk above her. "How about a decaf?"

Getting ticked off at his behavior she felt the urge to hit him for disrespecting her brother's store by leaning on the counter, but instead she swallowed it up. "You could ask nicely, then maybe I'd be a little more inclined to serve you." Immediately, she mentally slapped herself. Why did she say that? After all, this was a first time customer, AND a prospective performer. She looked back at him, only to see a cross form on his forehead, "Oh yeah? Well I don't need to be bossed around by a midget!" _Ok, that was definitely not necessary!_ Balling her fist and gritting her teeth she looked back up at him with anger in her Violet eyes.

"Well I'm the one working here, I can kick you out if you're causing trouble you ginger!"

"Well I can just walk out of here and you'd lose a valuable performer as well!"

Dumbfounded, she stood there with her mouth open. As much as she wanted to slug him for his insolence, he had a point. She couldn't lose her chance, but for the sake of the café, she restrained herself. "One decaf…coming right up." She threw down the 'closed' sign she never put down and briskly walked past him. She started unpacking the material and started up the machine. Ichigo snorted and headed for the stage. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed him stare at the stage again for a second while pouring to coffee into the filter.

He stepped onto the stage and took his guitar off his back and set it onto the floor of the stage, unbuckling the case and revealing his het black acoustic guitar.

_Whoa, that's a nice guitar! _Rukia thought while walking over to him with his decaf, "what kind of guitar is that?" She knew nothing about guitar, in fact, she never touched one before in her life.

Reaching for his decaf, he replied, "It's a Guild GSR D-40" Putting the decaf on the floor next to him, he continued, "I named it Zangetsu." Reaching into his case he rifled around in the special compartment and pulled out a red guitar pick with a skull with tusks and a single word printed right over it, reading, "_Motorhead"_

She blinked twice "You like Motorhead?" Thinking of the motley trio of bearded men, she wrinkled her nose in disgust. Not only did she dislike their music, but also the appearance of the middle-aged, rough-looking men. She read that the front man, Lemmy Kilmister slept with over 40,000 women! What kind of pig does that? Then again, the girls also may have been too caught up in his fame and became putty in his hands….how sick. As she drifted back into reality, she heard Ichigo speaking.

"-okay I guess, never really listened to them in depth, but I like a couple of their songs."

He strummed a few strings to find that they we horribly out of key, to which he and the petite girl cringed and she even covered her ears with her hands.

"Damn, that sounded awful!"

He looked up at her and gritted his teeth, "I know it did, relax shorty I'll tune it and then I'll play a song that takes me back when I was a child…" As he said the last few words his frown turned into a small smile.

Rukia crossed her arms over her chest. "Well let's hear it, I wanna see if you're good enough to perform."

All Ichigo did was smirk to himself, as he started playing a riff. It sounded almost ethereal, but with a folky-twist to it. She closed her eyes and let the melody sink in, but that's when she heard his voice…

_Old man, look at my life, I'm a lot like you were,_

_Old man, look at my life, I'm a lot like you were…_

Her eyes quickly opened and spun her head towards his face and gasped quietly as he played the main riff and…and….his _voice…._

_Old man, look at my life, twenty-four and there's so much more_

_Live alone in a paradise, that makes me think of two…_

Her petite mouth hung agape as she heard him sing. _Its angelic…but rough…breathy, like he's sighing…bluesish…he sounds almost like John Mayer…_Her face flushed a little to a pinkish color and felt her face heat up. Astonished, she put a hand to her cheek. _Wh-why am I reacting to him like this? Sure that…that voice of his is astounding…so warm…but what am I feeling?_

_Love lost, such a cost,_

_Give me things that won't get lost,_

_Like a coin that won't get tossed,_

_Rolling home to you._

Putting more oomph into his strokes, he broke into the chorus riff, sending shivers down the petite girls spine.

_Old man take a look at my life_

_I'm a lot like you,_

_I need someone to love me the whole day through,_

_Ah, one look in my eyes and you can tell that's true._

Biting down on her lip, she felt agitated…How could such an annoying boy have such a good voice? Feeling herself shake with frustration and another emotion she couldn't identify, she decided to just calm down and let him finish. She liked this song anyway, it is a classic after all.

Cutting back from the main riff he continued:

_Lullabies, look in your eyes,_

_Run around the same old town,_

_Doesn't mean that much to me,_

_To mean that much to you_

_I've been first and last,_

_Look at how the time goes past,_

_But I'm all alone at last,_

_Rolling home to you._

One last time he broke into the chorus with just as much ferocity in his strokes and his voice,

_Old man take a look at my life I'm a lot like you,_

_I need someone to love me the whole day through,_

_Ah, one look in my eyes and you can tell that's true_

Settling down into the outro, he sung softly.

_Old man, look at my life, I'm a lot like you were,_

_Old man, look in my life, I'm a lot like you were…_

Letting the final chord ring, he opened his eyes and looked straight up to Rukia and gave a toothy grin.

The petite girl just stood there, mouth slightly open as if in a trance.

"Hey, shorty! Earth to shorty!"

She shook her head and centered her vision on him with a scowl, which lightened with each passing second until it turned into a light blush and then she looked away, suddenly finding the adjacent wall interesting.

"Well…you were ok…I-I'll give you that, Strawberry."

His grin disappeared and turned into a scowl. About to open his mouth, he decided it wasn't worth it and instead half-smiled. "So you know that song?"

She turned back to him and her eyebrows furrowed. "Of course I do! That was Neil Young's song 'Old Man', it's a classic!" she exclaimed as if everyone should know that. Instead, the orange-haired teen raised both his eyebrows and whistled. "Well how about that! You know who Neil Young is? That makes you a little cooler I guess."

Her mouth turned into a frown as she scowled at him. "I know tons of artists and songs from that area you ginger, just play it and I'll name it!"

Ichigo's eyes widened and gave an impressed laugh. "Well damn, ok then!" He threw his arms up in surrender. Rukia pouted and a cross formed on her forehead. Suddenly, a thought went through her mind. Was he in high school? He's tall and all, which school does he go to? Her thoughts were interrupted by his question

"So which school do you attend?"

"Oh, I'm going to Seretei Academy."

His eyebrow raised slightly, "Oh, that school? That's across town, isn't it?" Indicating the direction east with his thumb. He started to put his guitar back into his case.

"Yes that one," she said with a twinge of annoyance, "what about you? I don't think I've seen you in any of my classes."

"Yeah, in fact I just moved here not too long ago with my family, my dad enrolled me into Karakura High. Right near the end of the school year too! I couldn't believe it. Goat face was pretty adamant about it though," He said sighing and closing his case and closing the hatches.

Nodding her head so he could continue. "So now I'm here in a new town. Karakura is that way, by the way." Indicating west with his thumb. "I also live in that direction, you should come by sometime, my dad runs the clinic there that we just opened."

She flushed a little bit and looked at the bar. "W-we just met, don't get your hopes up you perv."

"Hey, don't call me that! I was just inviting you over! There's nothing indecent about that, shorty!"

"Oh yeah? I know how you teenage boys think, plus we just met you idiot, don't you think we should get to know each other a bit more first?"

Growling he just turned around, hoisting his guitar case onto his back.

"In any case, I have to leave, its getting pretty late."

Glancing at the clock, her eyes widened in shock, "Oh my god, I have to close the café now! Out! Out you go!" she said laboriously as she pushed him towards the door.

"I can walk on my own you know! Jeez, woman!" he bellowed over his shoulder

She gave one more push and he was outside. Not wanting her brother to be awakened, she tiredly closed the door behind her, brushed her uniform and turned to face him. "Well, I guess I'll see you again soon?" She asked brushing her hair back behind her ear while panting.

Rubbing the back of his head, he replied, "Yeah, perhaps this weekend. I have to get acquainted with my schoolwork and all."

She nodded and turned to look at his guitar, "So, that's a nice guitar you have, where did you get it?"

"Oh, Zangetsu?" He looked over his shoulder, "It was a present…" He scratched the back of his head "…from someone special" He finished with a small grin.

Wondering whom he may be referring to, she pushed the thought out of her head. "Ok, I better get to bed, there's school tomorrow and I need my rest."

He looked back at her smiling apologetically. "Oh, right, I guess I should go too, night shorty!" He said with a playful grin and walked just out of her reach as she tried to punch his shoulder.

"Ok, see you!"

"W-wait!"

Turning around he gave her a skeptical look, "What now?"

She gulped and barely looked up at him, "N-nice playing…nice v-voice you have there too…"

He paused for a second then grinned widely and his eyes sparkled. "Thanks! Uh, what was your name?" She gave him an exasperated look and put a hand on her hip.

"I'll give it to you if you promise to stop calling me 'Shorty'!"

"Meeeh, can't promise that!" he winked.

"Fine, its Rukia, Rukia Kuchiki!" She said with fake annoyance rolling her eyes.

He gave her a lopsided grin, "My name's Ichigo! Ichigo Kurosaki! Later short stuff!" And he ran off.

"UGH, see if I ever let you back in here, you jerk!" She retorted loudly enough for him to hear. All she heard as a response was more laughter as he raised a hand over his head and turned the corner, earning a few stares from a few wary citizens.

Shaking her head with disgust, she 'humphed' and walked back inside the shop.

**-/-**

Unbeknownst to the pair downstairs, a certain tall, pale and dark-haired man stood, leaning against the wall next to the stairs with his arms crossed, listening to everything.

_Whoever that man was, he was good, I haven't heard a talent like that in a while_.

He thought to himself. As he heard his younger sister close the door, he smiled slightly and opened the door to his room and walked in to go to bed.

**A nice longer chapter for you guys, aren't I nice? ;) I'm thinking of keeping them this length. It's nice and comfortable for me. Next chapter will be of Rukia's school day, let's see what her life is like at school! Who are her friends? Who are her enemies? What are her teachers like? What are classes like? So many questions, but have no fear, most of them will be answered next chapter. Until then, thanks for reading!**

**I do not own the song "Old Man" It was written by Neil Young.**


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